Trade
Tech Industry Disappointed, Still Has Hope
     While representatives of the high-tech community expressed disappointment in House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt's, D-MO, announced opposition to permanent normal trade relations with China, they seemed to take some comfort in his plans to not publicly twist the arms of the House Democratic Caucus to vote against the plan. Several high-tech companies acknowledged that Gephardt has been working to build a relationship with the Internet community. They added that if he hadn't been courting them, he would have had more time to press against PNTR, which is why he took a soft approach by saying in his speech: "I think reasonable minds should be able to disagree on this important issue." "If it weren't for high-tech, Gephardt would kill this bill," said a lobbyist who recently left Capitol Hill for a high-tech company and who declined to be named.

Trade
Trade With China To Dominate Tech Summit
     The Joint Economic Committee in June is holding its second annual high-tech summit and the sticky issue of securing permanent trade relations with China is expected to take center stage, according to a number of companies that have been invited to the JEC summit. Just as in 1999, a high profile, high-tech issue is expected to dominate discussions. A year ago, it was Y2K liability protection legislation that was pending in the Senate, and Republicans were eager to extend their outreach to the high-tech community. At that time, lawmakers perceived that the Democrats had the head start because President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore successfully had courted many friends in Silicon Valley. As many high-tech leaders came to Congress to testify at the JEC, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-MS, scheduled a vote on Y2K and passed the legislation, in part to showcase Republican support for the industry.

Privacy
Lawmakers Unveil Privacy, Cybercrime Bills
     After working together for more than a month on a bill to combat cybercrime and create online privacy protections, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-UT, and ranking member Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, parted company and this week introduced separate bills. Hatch introduced the Internet Integrity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, S. 2448, with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY. The bill would stiffen penalties against cybercrime, permit law enforcement to obtain national "trap and trace" court orders, and boost resources to combat computer crime internationally. The measure also includes some language addressing consumer online data privacy. Meanwhile, Leahy introduced a more limited Internet Security Act, S. 2430, after meetings with Hatch staffers broke down over the extent to which penalties for hacking would be strengthened and whether there should be protections against privacy abuses by law enforcement.

Cybersecurity
AG To Report Encryption Obstacles
     The nation's attorney general will be required to report the number of annual wiretaps in which encryption was encountered under legislation that cleared the Senate this week. Introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-VT, with the support of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-UT, the Continued Reporting of Intercepted Wire, Oral, and Electronic Communication Act, S. 1769, modifies existing law by requiring a separate count of the number of cases of encrypted documents.

Crime
Lawmakers Introduce Cyberstalking Bills
     Sen. John Ashcroft, R-MO, and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, have introduced in the Senate a pair of bills that would broaden the definition of stalking crimes to include "cyberstalking" — cases in which a perpetrator uses the Internet to send threatening e-mail messages across state lines. "These bills open up a new front in the fight against stalking by extending this to electronic stalking," Ashcroft and Hutchison said in a Wednesday letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-UT, seeking hearings on the subject.

Business
Senate E-Sign Conferees Take New Route
     Senate electronic signatures conferees are attempting to build support behind a legislative approach that sources described this week as a fundamental departure from a companion "e-sign" bill being advanced in the House. That new language — portions of which currently are being circulated among industry and other interested parties — is part of a comprehensive draft that has been worked on by Senate Commerce Manufacturing and Competitiveness Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Abraham, R-MI, Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain, R-AZ, and Senate Banking Chairman Phil Gramm, R-TX. The new bill, which reportedly has not been distributed in full, is said to represent a more streamlined approach than legislation written by House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley, R-VA, who is chairing the conference committee.

E-commerce
Spam Measure Simmers On Back Burner
     Legislation that would ban spam, or unsolicited commercial e-mail, is not likely to move through Congress anytime soon, despite easy subcommittee approval of a House bill last month. Neither the full House nor Senate Commerce committees have made a commitment to take up the issue. The House Commerce Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee unanimously passed H.R. 3113, which combined a number of bills by House Republicans and Democrats aimed at limiting spam. But the Senate Commerce Committee has yet to call an initial hearing on a spam bill, S. 759, introduced by Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-AK, last March.

Business
Industry Wants Time On Disability Rules
     High-tech industry representatives are worried that a looming deadline for federal agencies to make IT equipment accessible to disabled employees could make it difficult for companies to provide the agencies with the newest technology while still meeting the new disability requirements. Information Technology Association of America President Harris Miller called on Congress to extend the Aug. 7 deadline since the technical standards for the new federal requirements are still being written. He said the extension would give the industry and federal agencies time to comply.

Telecom
Powell Critical Of FCC's Support For Plan
     Commissioner Michael Powell criticized his colleagues on the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday for "politicizing" the agency's business by supporting an initiative announced by President Clinton to provide expanded telephone service to Native Americans. Clinton made the announcement in East Palo Alto, CA, as part of his New Markets tour. He said that residents of Indian reservations would be able to get basic phone service for as little as $1 a month, and it would be subsidized by a new fee on long distance telephone carriers.

Domains
Group Recommends New Top-Level Domains
     Advisers to the global body that governs the Internet's domain name system recommended the addition of new global top level domains to the list that currently includes .com and .org. The members of the Domain Name Supporting Organization's Names Council unanimously recommended "that a limited number of new top-level domains be introduced initially and that the future introduction of additional top-level domains be done only after careful evaluation of the introduction," said Ken Stubbs, chairman of the Names Council and an Internet domain name registrar.

On The Hill
Tech's Voice Begins To Add Up On FASB
     In a sign that high-tech's voice on accounting issues has gotten louder on Capitol Hill, House Commerce Finance and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Mike Oxley, R-OH, has scheduled a hearing May 4 to address the Financial Accounting Standards Board's proposal for changing accounting rules important to the high-tech industry.

E-commerce
Tech Firms Try To Stamp Out E-Postal Efforts
     Several technology companies and associations are ramping up their campaign against the Postal Service's entry into e-commerce, and have criticized the agency's announcement this month that it will offer consumers electronic bill payment services. Led by the Computer and Communications Industry Association and with the support of Intuit, H&R Block and Yahoo, the groups slammed the government for breaking an Eisenhower-era executive order that forbids government agencies from competing with the private sector in offering commercial products and services. In addition to decrying the postal service's entry into e-payments, the technology groups criticized the agency's use of the "USPS.com" domain and an Internal Revenue Service plan to launch commercial electronic tax preparation services.

Lobbying
TechNet Puts Another One On The Map
     TechNet is bringing its message to the Midwest. Silicon Valley's bipartisan lobbying organization this week opened an Indiana office, claiming it as its third national "node."
- by Sharon McLoone